ARM & HAMMER™ HardBall™ Clumping Litter

My overall rating

Arm & Hammer's HardBall Clumping Litter was easy to find at a nearby retailer, and was priced competitively"ish", being slightly more then my typical brand per kilo. The box was on the small side for the price, and was small enough to be extremely...   +

Arm & Hammer's HardBall Clumping Litter was easy to find at a nearby retailer, and was priced competitively"ish", being slightly more then my typical brand per kilo. The box was on the small side for the price, and was small enough to be extremely easy to manage, portable and not overwhelming with a convenient carry handle, but not so small as to be impractical.

Upon opening, I found the kitty litter to be intensely fragranced, and was originally concerned this would cause my very particular older cat to reject it as she has done with other scented brands before, surprisingly this was not an issue. I did however notice numerous times over the course of the week that I could smell the cat box upon entering my house - not in a bad way, just the fragrance or "fresh smell" of the litter itself.

The litter is exceptionally small grain - in fact that is my one concern with this product. Its so fine almost like sand, that it occasionally sticks to the cats paws and fur, and I do wonder what will happen if the cat ingests this litter while grooming and hope there have been steps taken to ensure it will not clump in a kitty's stomach.

This kitty list also scores well for being almost completely dust-free and my cats did not track it at ALL out of the litterbox. From that standpoint alone, I'm not sure anyone else can top this litter.

I didn't find the clumping to make either balls or get overly hard, though it did clearly clump very well with kitty tinkle, it was oddly, more of a "pee pancake" in our litter box, but it was very, very easy to scoop out of the litterbox.

Overall, I'd give the clumping an A - it wasn't a tidy ball but was easily removed. I would prefer if they toned down the fragrance slightly, but it was pleasant enough and nobody else in the house seemed to notice it. When I asked some houseguests if they could smell it, 1 out of 2 said they could but was shocked to learn it was the cat box. For kitty owners with mobility issues, this litter would be an attractive option.

- Product gifted by Church & Dwight Canada.    -